Daring Bakers and an award!

Okay, so this months challenge was Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream. I was excited to find out this cake was from Carole Walter's "Great Cakes".

To start, I made this cake on monday night. I had no idea I was making the cake, but I got an unexpected tip from work.

so I picked up the ingredients at 4 and got to work at 6, after dinner. That's the last time I'm ever staring a daring baker project at 6 in the evening! By the time I was done I was ready to break down and cry myself to sleep. It was almost midnight, and nothing was going my way!

When I woke up the next morning, I was feeling a little better and decorated the cake. The only pastry tip I have is very small, and it kept getting clogged. The big splatter on top were accidents because the butter cream came right out of the top and plopped right on my design...*sigh*







Taste review:
I didn't like it. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it.

My sister liked it! Maybe she has a more "adult palette"?

My friend Heather didn't like it, so she brought it home to her mom

My fron "Hollie" didn't like it very much but ate it anyway because she loves me. XD

Needless to say, I won't be making this again! But I'm glad I tried, it was worth the experience!

Luckily, "Hollie" brought over her peanut butter cup cheesecake! AMAZING. I'm seriously going to steel the recipe from her one of these days.



EDIT:
Karen of Do Better awarded me with the smiles award! It made me very happy and definitely put a smile on my face!

Characteristics for the Smile Award:
1. Must display a cheerful attitude. (not necessarily at all times–we are all human)
2. Must love one another3. Must make mistakes
4. Must learn from others
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world
6. Must love life
7. Must love kids

These are the rules:

1. The recipient must link back to the award’s creator (http://www.thebabblingsofmere.blogspot.com/)
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.
3. You must chose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award, as posted by Mere.
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver.

Now I'm not sure if I can do this, but I want to award Karen with the same award! So I give the award to

1. Karen of Do Better. She's an amazing baker and extremely nice. She has 2 children who take after her beauty and her family seems so loving.
2. My very own sister, Christina, of Stuff By Stina. She's beautiful, talented and of the nicest people I've met!! She's great with little kids and when she smiles the whole room glows. (sorry, that was cheesy...but true!)
3. is Mother Bliss. She has a wonderful family and I love reading about her life! She's a great baker and cook, and her kids are adorable.
4. is Daily Delicious! Everything she makes looks so incredibly delicious! I'd love to visit her house for tea one day.
5. is Christina of She Runs She Eats. She's an amazing athlete who knows good food! I lkove to read how she's doing and all her tips. Everything she posts looks great, wether she's eating it or making it herself!

Carrot Cake

I wish I were about to show you some really beautiful cake, covered in fondant, with gum paste flowers, edible gold and other fancy decorations.

But no.

Here is a carrot cake. The same way My mom's been making it for years. This cake is heavy, dense, very filling (and satisfting) if you eat too much. The cake is so good you could eat it on it's own, without the frosting! Of course, I'd say the same thing about the frosting...I can't remember how many times I've licked the bowl out! It's creamy, rich, thick and smooth.

But it's sloppy. The whole cake, whenever I make it, it looks sloppy. It's just not a naturally beautiful cake. But it's whats inside that counts, right?









This is one of my favorite cakes. My sister claims she could this off of this, eating nothing more. I tend to agree with her...(If we did, we'd all get really fat! )

Carrot Cake recipe:

2 1/2 cups of flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt

2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs

2 cups shredded carrots
8 oz. crush pineapple (from a can)
1 cup rasins or walnuts (optional)

Greese and lightly flour a 13 X 9 pan. *

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl beat together sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs. Add the flur mixture and beat together just until combined. Do not over beat. Add the shredded carrots, crushed pineapple, and raisin/walnuts. Gently combine together,on very low speed with hand mixer for a few seconds or with a large wooden spoon.

* My mom and I always double the recipe and use 2 9-inch pans. If you do this, you'll have a little leftover which can be baked in a loaf pan.

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz. cream cheese, soft
2 1/2 cups powder sugar
6 tbls. butter, soft
1 tsp. vanilla

Throw all the ingredients in a bowl and beat until smooth and creamy. Warning: powder sugar likes to fly out of the bowl and mess up all you counters and measurments. Be sure to use a large bowl, especially if doubled!